Today our expert guest is Tony Jacobsen, a personal trainer and the author ofDisable Your Disability: Live The Healthy Life You Deserve!Tony was born with a rare bone disorder (Osteogenesis Imperfecta) that makes his bone brittle, and after years of being held back because of it and being extremely unhealthy, he flipped the switch and learned to embrace it.

Now, at the age of 46, he is living a healthy, high-powered, and happy life – and his mission is to help others do the same.

Growing up, Tony was told to be careful. “For a while, I felt like my name was Tony Becareful because that’s all I heard, so I grew up with that in my mind.”

As Tony grew up, he still held onto “be careful,” and it prevented him from living his life. “It kept me from fully expressing myself during those years.”

By the time Tony was 42, he was in the worst shape of his life. He was in pain every day, and he had no strength. When he went to the doctor, he learned that he had had a heart attack.

“It was at that point, when that happened, that I knew something had to change … I knew I had to do something, and that’s when I flipped the switch. That’s when I realized I needed to do something that was the complete opposite of what my disability had been telling me my entire life; I knew that I couldn’t be careful anymore.”

Tony realized he had to push himself and do something that scared him, so he went all-in and hired a personal trainer. He needed help, and he wanted someone to guide him – something he now does for others.

He got stronger physically, but more importantly, he got stronger mentally and emotionally.

A lot of times, Tony says, people with disabilities have trouble asking for help – and I think this is something that we all experience, at some point or another. We feel like it is showing a sign of weakness, but nothing could be farther from the truth.

“With guidance, we achieve goals faster, we learn more, and you can get things done faster in life by doing that.”

The Biggest Helping: Today’s Most Important Takeaway

“Don’t be afraid to look for and identify where you might be broken in life, or where you might be held back. Because once you can identify it, once you can see where you might be held back, then you have something to work with and you can actually embrace these adversities, embrace the things that are holding you back. That’s where the power comes to overcome, to health, and to really replace the negative with positive.”

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